The Outlaw's Physician
by HyperionSpeck
Summary: (Takes place in the anime universe. My first crack at this fandom.) Despite the Doctor's promises, he and Martha end up on a harsh desert planet full of bandits and gunslingers. Vash the Stampede shows up, and all hell breaks loose when hostile aliens begin terrorizing the town of February. Martha just wanted a relaxing day on the beach...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I started this...oh gosh...several months ago, but I just found it hidden in my files and I decided to follow through with it. The chapters are a little longer, so it'll probably take a while to update, but writing this thing so far has been so freaking fun!**

 **I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, constructive criticism and reviews are always appreciated!**

Vash screamed and ran, his boots pounding against the bedrock and churning up clouds of dust - the only kind of cloud this planet was used to. Countless bullets whizzed past him, tearing the edges of his red duster coat, but managing to avoid his skin, colliding with the wooden walls of surrounding buildings instead. The gunslinger was extremely lucky when it came to bullet blizzards…some said he had the luck of the Devil himself.

Except...he wasn't so lucky when it came to avoiding trouble. Trouble must have a major crush on him, because it followed him around everywhere. With a sixty billion double dollar bounty on his head, bounty hunters and regular townspeople alike often caught him in their sights and pursued him. Amazing how a ton of money could drive people to kill someone. Did money justify ending a life?

Under the long coat, and the gloves, and the leg-length boots, his body was horribly scarred. Because, despite the fact that the world was trying to kill him, he refused to take anyone's life. Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon, was, in fact, a pacifist.

Sure, he carried around a gun, and was the fastest and greatest aim on the planet, but it was mostly for self defense. And that incredible aim was to incapacitate enemies - not to kill them.

But right now...he was out of ammo.

A rifle bullet narrowly missed his stuck-up blonde hair, and a handgun bullet barely pinged off of his earring. These were getting way too close.

As the chase carried on, the windows ahead of them began opening, and civilians began poking their heads out to see what the commotion was. But they were quickly shoved back inside by Vash, even though it hindered his speed. He couldn't let them get caught up in the chaos.

Now, the strangest thing about Vash, was that he had a two-sided personality. On the outside, he looked like a screaming lunatic frantically dodging bullets and raging through the streets of February. On the inside, his more professional mind was desperately trying to calculate a way out of this whole mess.

There was the humorous, joking, compassionate, happy-go-lucky Vash, who was also apparently a scaredy-cat and a whimp. And there was the serious, haunted, scarred, expert gunslinger Vash - but that was the side he rarely showed.

Behind him, he heard the crowd of townspeople of all shapes, sizes, and ages, storming after him, firing off bullet after bullet. The sounds of their feet colliding against the sandy ground sounded almost like a herd of thomases running from a worm.

The great thing was, he hadn't gotten hurt yet. But the bad thing was...he had no plan. He never usually had a plan - things just kind of...happened. He liked to let it happen. And he sure hoped something happened soon.

Vash winced and cried out, slightly faltering when a bullet finally bit him, slicing through the side of his arm, ripping the cloth and the skin, before passing through and lodging itself into a wall. He heard a cry of triumph behind him from some lucky man who had finally placed a good shot. And still they came, chasing him down like he was a predator's next meal.

Vash shoved his empty silver handgun back into its holster, then wrapped his fingers around his wound, feeling the blood slipping into the holes in his glove. He rounded a corner, trying to get out of the crowd's range for a moment. But he was met by a face-full of wall, not counting on a dead end.

Feeling a sudden blast of cold panic, he gasped and gave a last ditch effort, trying to scramble up the wall. It was no good - there was nothing to grab onto, and the rioting crowd behind him was too close.

There were two things he could do...sit down and accept his fate, or...he had another gun. But he would have to shoot to kill.

No, never! That was _never_ going to happen! That would make _her_ sad…

"We'll make you pay for what you've done!" Vash heard some man shout. He turned around, facing the dozens of townsfolk who had already swarmed the entrance of the alley. All the men, boys, and even some women stood there at arms, keeping the Stampede in their sights.

"Hey there, fellas! Can't we talk this out?" Vash asked cheekily, shining off a big, nervous grin. He made it his plan to raise his hands up, but immediately cringed and recoiled, feeling more blood dripping down his sleeve.

"It would...It would make us all really happy if you died…" Said a tired, long-haired woman, who didn't look too comfortable with the rifle in her hands. "We could really use that sixty billion double dollar bounty to do a lot of repairs in the town…"

"Not to mention, a lot of people suffered because of you," the same man as before spoke up, holding a revolver and aiming between Vash's eyes. But his hands were shaking, and his eyes glared with doubt. Come to think of it...everyone in the crowd looked very hesitant.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Vash asked, his voice growing stern. With his good arm, he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a pair of orange sunglasses, resting the zig-zazzing temples onto his ears.

Everyone hesitated, looking at each other in doubt. He could tell by their shocked faces that they hadn't actually planned on getting this far. No...they secretly hadn't _wanted_ to get this far. Taking a life wasn't as easy as some said. But at the same time, these people were pretty desperate.

"You won't kill me. You can't," Vash bluffed, pushing the bridge of his sunglasses further up his nose. He hoped it was a good bluff…

"N-No...we have to. We have to finish this!" A young man in his twenties shoved his way to the front, shouldering through the crowd to come face to face with the famous outlaw. Tears were freely streaming down his tanned cheeks, and his dark hair curled over his face in an unruly manner. "You have to suffer. You have to! I'll never live in peace if you don't!" Another man in the crowd stepped forward, lowering his rifle and putting a hand on the young man's shoulder.

"Do it, Morgan!" A woman shouted fiercely from somewhere in the crowd. The young man - who was apparently called Morgan - nodded in response, raising his revolver and steadying it with his other hand. Vash found himself staring into the barrel of the gun, gazing into the dark pit that a bullet of hot lead would come rocketing out of.

"This is for my parents..." Morgan snarled, his ferocity contrasting his tears. "And all of the others who died in July, twenty years ago! This is to honor all of the people who were slaughtered in the massacre!"

Vash felt his brilliant blue eyes widening behind the orange lenses. He clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists, preparing for the coming pain. Or perhaps the coming end.

Maybe he deserved this...but he couldn't remember.

Morgan pulled the trigger and a flash erupted from the barrel of the revolver. The bullet jumped out, ready to strike its prey.

And then the strangest thing happened...

A strong wind came from nowhere, blowing up the sand and dust in plumes. It kicked the bullet out of its stream, and the lead collided with the wall, only a hair from Vash's head.

A groaning, wheezing noise filled the air, like no noise they had ever heard before. It sounded almost like rusty or failing engines. And then they saw it - a box of blue burst into existence, fading to and from view repeatedly, before finally becoming solid and sitting still on the bedrock. The dust settled quickly, and all of the sudden, a strange object had popped into the world.

"Witchcraft!" A woman screamed.

"It's Vash the Stampede! He's using some sort of black magic!" A man accused.

"Something bad's gonna happen...just like July! We've gotta get out of here!" Morgan proclaimed, backing up into the crowd. In unison, they all turned tail and fled, screaming or waving their arms in panic.

OoOoOoO

"So...what's outside this time?" Martha asked, leaning against the railing by the door and pushing a dark tuft of hair out of her face. She was a short woman, in her late twenties and black-skinned. Her body spoke of style, but her eyes shined with intelligence. And right now...they also screamed out dry humor. "Another hostile tribe? More racist townsfolk? The slums of humanity's future Earth again?"

The Doctor poked his head around the glass column in the center of the circular console. He was a tall, skinny man clad in a smart pinstripe blazer, and his hair was stuck up in a crazy manner. He had his thick-rimmed "brainy-specs" on, and was grinning rather sheepishly. It was the grin he wore when he knew he had upset his companion.

"I know I haven't exactly shown you the good sights yet...but _that,_ Martha Jones... _that_ is about to change! I've taken you to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon!

He tore around the console, leaping through the large, dome-like control room and rocketing down the ramp that led to the door, his converse raging against the metal mesh floor. Martha crossed her arms and stood up straight, following the Doctor as he threw the door open and stepped outside.

Immediately, they were met by the heat of an intense sun. No... _two_ intense suns. And they both knew instantly by the sand under their feet, and the stone buildings towering over them, that something was terribly off.

"Oops..." The Doctor gave another grin, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Martha nervously. She just gave a long-suffering sigh and shrugged.

"When will you ever get it right?"

"It's not exactly easy to drive!" The Doctor countered clumsily. "Why don't you try - AH!" He was cut off and startled when he suddenly felt arms wrapping around his waist, and he was lifted into the air by surprising strength. Martha jumped back and gasped in surprise, bracing herself for something bad.

"THANK GOODNESS!" A young man's voice squealed in relief and delight. "I almost died! I thought I was gonna bite the dust!"

Martha was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't a danger that had taken hold of the Doctor. It was a tall, young man who looked to be in his early twenties, clad in a long red duster coat, swinging the Doctor around in the air like he weighed nothing.

"Put me down!" The Doctor squeaked, more startled than anything.

"I'm eternally grateful for your kindness and mercy! How can I ever make it up to-" and as quickly as it had happened, it stopped. The man suddenly winced and dropped the Doctor, forcing the Timelord to land on his rear end. The stranger cringed and clutched his arm with a groan.

Martha started, noticing the crimson stain on the Doctor's suit where the stranger had grabbed him.

The Doctor noticed it too, and he quickly hopped to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"Huh?" The stranger asked, snapping his head up and looking startled, as if they had woken him from a dream. Then he spotted their concerned faces and gave them a huge grin, waving his hands in front of him furiously. "I'm fine. Honestly! It was just a scratch! Actually, it's really lucky that a scratch was all I came back with. I really thought I was gonna die!" He gave a dramatic sigh of relief, placing a hand on his chest.

"No, you're hurt," Martha observed sternly, though the compassion glinted in her eyes. She stepped forward and held her hand out for the stranger. "I'm a doctor. Let me help." The Doctor stepped back and watched his companion with admiration.

Martha waited patiently for the stranger to accept her offer, but when he didn't, she looked up at him. She saw him gaping at her, his blue eyes wide, and was that...drool!? She looked back at the Doctor in shock, but he just shrugged at her.

"Check for a concussion?" He suggested cheekily. "Or perhaps a bad case of awe-struck. Love-stricken?"

"Stoppit," she snapped, but she couldn't help but give him a grin.

"Am I on my way to Heaven?" The stranger finally spoke up again, in an awed voice. "Because a dark-skinned angel has come to sweep me off my feet! Oh, wonderful day! My fair lady!" He exclaimed, dropping to his knees and accepting Martha's hand. He gave it a passionate kiss- making her blush furiously - then looked back up at her with big, shining eyes.

Martha looked to the Doctor again for help, but he was just grinning at her, trying to suppress a giggle.

"The process of my introduction is normally shocking to some people, so I think I'll get it out of the way now, to avoid future complications," the stranger continued talking, standing up and stepping closer to Martha, forcing her to take a step back. He held her hand through it all. "My name is Vash. Vash the Stampede. I'm the hunter of peace, and I'm also chasing the elusive mayfly called love. The Humanoid Typhoon with a sixty-billion double dollar bounty on his head…"

 _Et cetera_ , Martha thought to herself. She let him ramble on, taking this opportunity to examine the open wound on Vash's upper arm. With her free hand, she parted the torn cloth to get a better look at the bullet hole. He was right in saying that it was a minor injury, and it was already beginning to clot - a good wrap would be just enough to let it heal.

"So what's your name?" Vash was saying excitedly. "I bet it's beautiful!"

"Huh? Oh!" She snapped her attention back to what he was saying. "I'm Martha. Martha Jones."

"Woooooow!" He shined a gappy grin, his eyes practically sparkling in delight. "An unusual name...fit for a queen!"

"Hehe...yeah…" she chuckled nervously, then turned back to the Doctor, giving him a look that said "distract him." He nodded and gave a thumbs up, taking the queue.

"And I'm the Doctor!" He stepped forward, taking Vash's other hand and shaking it vigorously. "We're a bit new to the area, so I was wondering if you could help explain a couple of things for me. Like...where are we?"

"We're in the town of February, just East of LR," he explained with a big smile. Seeing that he was momentarily distracted, Martha slipped her hand out of his and bounded back into the TARDIS. Immediately, she felt a relief from the intense heat outside, stepping into the always-chilling interior of the ship.

She could hear them talking faintly from outside as she grabbed the hook from the toolbag on the console and kneeled down. She looped the hook into a hole in the grating, then lifted the panel up, sliding it to the side. She then rummaged through the various boxes and machinery under the mesh, careful to avoid the wires or other delicate-looking connections. Then, with a heave, she pulled up a simple red box covered in circular writings. She couldn't decipher the characters, but the Doctor had mentioned before that it was a first-aid kit.

Martha popped the metal latches open and lifted the heavy lid, revealing a collection of strange and alien-looking equipment. But in the midst of all of that, she was able to locate a simple roll of gauze, and some tape. She searched further and found a small bottle of what looked like rubbing alcohol...and least, she _hoped_ it was alcohol. She untwisted the top and gave the clear liquid a sniff - the strong smell confirmed her hope.

OoOoOoO

"This is gonna be a stupid question…" the Doctor was saying, continuing to fulfill Martha's wish, and also inquiring for the sake of his own curiosity. "But I got hit in the head a couple of days ago, and I can't remember. What's the name of the planet we're on?"

"Oh…" That question seemed to take Vash by surprise. He furrowed his eyebrows and scratched his head in puzzlement, pacing for a few steps. "It's called Gunsmoke, I think. But I suppose you could call it New Earth. Or Earth 2.0."

Now that wasn't right at all...he'd visited New Earth on several occasions, and it was the complete opposite of this planet. New Earth was home to a lush and fertile landscape, and humanity was on the peak of its ingenuity, building skyscrapers of clean metal and newfound materials. This planet resembled a western-styled desert.

"And what...year is this?"

"You must have hit your head pretty hard," he blinked in surprise.

"Yeaaah...I'm a bit...clumsy. Accident prone," the Doctor grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, me too!" Vash grinned in good humor. "And it's Stardate: 130. Last I checked, at least."

Something was definitely out of place...if this really was New Earth, it should be crawling with inhabitants and covered in futuristic technology, as well as plant life. Where was it all?

"Now let me ask you a question, bud," Vash continued, growing slightly more serious and pointing at the TARDIS. "What's a police box? Are you with the police? Did I just confess to you!?"

"Oh, no, no, no, it's not like that! We're...sorta...freelance. Martha and I," the Doctor explained quickly, trying to give off a disarming smile. "You've got nothing to worry about. But...for curiosity's sake...why would we turn you in?"

"You mean...you really don't know?" Vash asked, blinking in surprise again. He was honestly astonished - the man in front of him seemed so open and trustworthy, but altogether clueless as to where he was. Who was this man? "You're not from here, are you?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer, but was immediately cut off when Vash suddenly jumped, yelping in pain and alarm. Peering over the whimpering stranger's shoulder, the Timelord saw that Martha had tied an alcohol-soaked strip of gauze over his wound while they had been talking.

"That really hurt!" Vash whined, his lip stuck out in a pout and his eyes glazing in betrayal. He rubbed his arm and whimpered. "That was really cold-hearted…betrayed by a beautiful woman! This just isn't my day!"

"It should heal quickly, as long as you don't do anything strenuous with it," Martha said, an amused smirk on her face.

"Oh, the agony!" Vash was yelling melodramatically, grasping his wound and giving them both a pitiful look. "It hurts so bad, I just can't stand it!" He then slumped against the alley wall, falling to his knees and tucking his chin in his chest. "There's only one thing that could make the torture bearable…"

The Doctor and Martha passed each other a concerned look - neither of them really knew how to feel about this. Was he just a wimp, or a jokester?

Martha eventually took the bait, kneeling down next to him by the wall, trying to get a better look at him, but he had his face buried in his hands. The very first thing she noticed what that he reeked of gunpowder and leather.

"What would help?" She asked him hesitantly. His pitiful response was muffled by his hands, and she leaned in closer, straining to hear. "What was that?"

"I kiss from a lovely lady would really help…"

Martha stood up in a jolt, taken aback by his request. "Not a chance! You don't half stink!"

"Aw man…" he whined, sitting up quickly and looking up at her with pleading eyes. "I really thought it would work this time! Not even just a peck on the cheek?"

"No!" She shook her head in exasperation - this wasn't the first time she had been hit up on their travels.

"What if I took a shower?" He continued to beg, crawling forwards and wrapping his arms around her legs. She gasped, trying to step out of his grasp, but to no avail. Behind her, the Doctor was laughing uncontrollably, seemingly enjoying every moment of this. She would kill him later…

Martha was about to consider kicking the man in the head, but that was when everything changed.

Vash stood up abruptly, nearly causing Martha to lose her balance. All his flippancy had gone, to be replaced with a concerned seriousness. His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were tight; in the blink of an eye, he had whipped out a large, silver handgun seemingly out of nowhere, and was aiming it towards the entrance of the alley.

The Doctor had stopped laughing, and had also grown concerned, having pulled out his sonic screwdriver, and was currently scanning the area ahead of them. It seemed that Martha was the only one who couldn't tell what was going on. She hated that sometimes.

"Monster!" Someone shouted from nearby, followed by the screams of dozens of men and women.

Vash practically launched himself from where he stood, rocketing out of the alley at an incredible speed. The Doctor followed close behind only moments later, leaving Martha to take the end of the line. Again…

The Doctor kept running, trying to keep up with the red, bullet-shredded coat-tails that he barely managed to spot sliding around turns and corners. This guy was fast - too fast to be ignored. But that would be a problem to go over later on.

OoOoOoO

Vash eventually broke into a yellow bedrock clearing, marked only by the open space, two wooden benches, and a dried up well in the middle. The clearing was abandoned - for once, all of the townspeople had been smart enough to run away. He hated it when they were stupid and tried to fight back against unnatural beings who were always too strong for them. Picking up a fight seemed to be a bad habit that all of humanity shared.

He spotted the monster quickly, and immediately recoiled, halting in his steps and widening his eyes in horror. The creature before him was so horrible...so fiendish, it made his stomach roil, and the bile threatened to rise in his throat.

What terrible beast was this? Had a grotesque alien been recruited by the Gung-ho Gang? Another monstrosity sent to annihilate him?

The bulbous beast took a step forward, and Vash snapped his handgun up quickly. He was aware that the barrels were empty, but at least the silver gun would appear to be a threat. That is, if the beast was capable of comprehending threats.

"Stay back! Stay where you are!" Vash shouted threateningly, trying to keep the monster at bay until he could figure out just how much of a threat it really was. However, the beast either ignored him, or couldn't hear what he said. It took another step forward, then raised its disproportionate head and parted its fat lips. And slowly, very slowly, it let out a spine-shaking, nerve-racking bellow of horror.

" _Moooooooooo!_ "

Vash gasped and shuddered, taking a step back with a cringe. What was this terrible creature!?

"Were you sent here to kill me?" He asked, trying to keep his steady composure. "Are you the next Gung-Ho Gun?"

"I doubt that!" The Doctor exclaimed, skidding to a halt behind him and watching the beast with a grin. "That's a cow. Adorable, isn't it?"

"A...cu?" He gawked, lowering his handgun by a fraction.

" _Cow_ ," the Doctor corrected him. "Now will you put the gun away? I hate those things."

Very hesitantly, Vash slowly lowered his handgun and slipped it back into the holster hooked to his belt. He stepped back to join the Doctor, never taking his eyes off of the languid cow.

"It's not dangerous?" He then asked warily.

"Have you never seen a cow before?" The Doctor asked, rounding on the other man in concerned curiosity. "Or did they not bring cows over from Earth?"

And if that was the case...why was there one here now?

"Wait!" Vash gasped, an astonished look crossing his face. He took his eyes off of the cow and turned to face the Doctor, smiling in his excitement. "You mean to tell me that this cow thing it from _Earth_?! Really?!"

"That's right," the Doctor grinned, both surprised and delighted by his enthusiasm. "It was common livestock."

Martha finally caught up to them, gasping and skidding to a stop behind them. Breathlessly, she looked at the clearing, then the two men in front of her, confusion causing her eyebrows to furrow.

"What is it?"

"Oh, Martha! Glad to see you could join us," the Doctor mocked in good humor. Martha sighed in response, but didn't say anything.

"My angel!" Vash proclaimed, dashing to her side and laying his arm over her shoulders. She tried shrugging him off, but he was very passively persistent. "No need to fear! We've handled the crisis!"

"What crisis?" she asked in exasperation, giving the Doctor a long-suffering look.

"It was a cow," he shrugged in response. "See? Right over….oh."

The cow was gone.

"Wow!" Vash cried out. "Those cow-y livestock things are fast!"

"That's different…" the Doctor observed. "It couldn't have walked away that fast." He whipped out his sonic screwdriver, extending the tip and filling the clearing with its futuristic whine. He walked closer to the center of the clearing, giving it a quick scan, then snatching a scan in Martha and Vash's direction. "There's a lot of energy residue in this spot. Some sort of energy that I've seen before...but I can't place it."

"Not to point out the obvious, Mister," Vash was saying, a quizzical look on his face. "But you two are really weird...strange accents, magical blue box, her really dark skin...and is that lost technology you're using?"

"Oi!" He sniffed defiantly, pushing the tip of the screwdriver down again and slipping the device into his breast pocket. "I could say the same thing about you! Your body is _caked_ with energy that I've never seen before. I grabbed a scan back in the alley, and just now. Something's not right about you."

He was very taken aback by the Timelord's observations; leave it to the Doctor to offend someone they had just met - he was very good at that. Vash slid his arm off of Martha's shoulders and took a step forward, advancing on the Doctor. They couldn't tell whether he was offended, enraged, or simply baffled.

For a fraction of a moment, he looked very serious, and very disturbed. But he quickly threw it off, reclaiming his flippant and boisterous nature, and giving them a huge smile.

"Sorry, Doc! I've got no clue what you're talking about!"

"I suppose it doesn't matter," the Doctor shrugged it off, but his concerned look showed that he was still pondering it. "Anyways...if cows aren't supposed to be on this planet, then what was that one doing here?"

"Beats me," Vash shrugged, then snapped his eyes open in realization and pointed an accusing finger at the Doctor. "How come you know so much about Earth, anyways?"

"Oh! I'm a...a bit of a…" he scrambled, rubbing the back of his neck furiously and giving a sheepish grin.

"We're scholars," Martha quickly interjected. "We travel far and wide on a search for information. Any information, really."

"A noble quest!" Vash squeaked in admiration, gaping at her and causing her to sigh again.

"Never mind that," the Doctor cut in, but not without first shooting Martha a grateful look. "We've gotta figure this cow out - something just isn't right. There's a trail of residual energy that we can follow. It seems like a first good step."

"Right," Martha agreed, happy to be getting on the move again. Sometimes relaxing days were just fine...but it was easy to tell that both of them craved an adventure on this trip.

"Wait, you two are going?" Vash asked, disappointed. "But we've only just met. And between you and me…" he stepped closer to the Timelord, whispering quietly in his ear: "I haven't won the lady's heart, yet."

The Doctor took a step away from him and gave him a patient grin. "That's right; we're leaving. You can go back to doing whatever it is you were up to before we got here."

"Or I could...come with you?" He suggested, scooting closer and giving them both the pitiful-puppy look, clasping his hands together and making his lip quiver in a pout.

The Doctor and Martha passed each other a look, searching for each other's approval. After several moments of deliberation, they looked back up at the near-stranger, both with a sigh.

"Something's off about you, and I'll have to keep you with me to figure out what it is," the Doctor resigned.

"And it would be a good idea for me to keep an eye on that wound," Martha shrugged.

" _YES!_ " Vash squealed, gathering Martha in his arms in an enormous bear hug, much to her dismay. She tried to squirm out of it for several moments to no avail. Then, as a last resort, she reached up and prodded his wound with her fingers, causing him to yelp and let go, jumping backwards and clutching his arm.

"You'll have to train that new pet porcupine of yours!" The Doctor giggled.

"Oh, don't start…" she sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I seriously can't believe that people actually read the first chapter. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Your reviews and likes and follows mean so much to me! It's one of the biggest reasons that I write! I hope I don't scare you away with this next chapter!**

 **As always, reviews and constructive criticism always appreciated. Enjoy, and have a wonderful day!**

OoOoOoO

As was common on the desert planet, the wind was still and the heat rose languidly, creating an ever-present heat line that constantly waved in all directions, marking the distance. The twin suns glared down on the two travelers without mercy, and there didn't seem to be anything but sand and heat in every direction.

The travelers were a pair of young women, Meryl Stryfe and Milly Thompson, who had been sent from the Bernardelli Insurance Company to follow the infamous outlaw, Vash the Stampede, and evaluate the claims regarding each of the catastrophes he seemed to be involved in.

Meryl was a shorter woman, with a lean frame and supposedly delicate features. She had short, dark hair and intelligent dark eyes, and was in her mid-twenties. Despite her frail appearance, she was very clever, hot-headed, and an expert aim. Known as 'Derringer Meryl,' she was always equipped with dozens of throwaway derringers hidden under her long white coat.

Milly was much taller, practically doubling her senior co worker's height. She was tall and firmly framed, with long brunette hair and wide blue eyes. She never lacked compassion, and her sweet and innocent personality often caused others to relax around her. She, too, carried a weapon, but never used real bullets. She was known as 'Stun-gun Milly," and managed to hide a heavy concussion gun under her earthy robes.

The pair rode across the desert slowly, bouncing on the sloppy gait of the thomases that bode them on their backs. The terrible heat would have bothered a lot of people, but after four months of constant traveling and trouble, the two insurance girls didn't mind the quiet ride at all.

"Isn't it great, Meryl?" Milly suddenly spoke up, a sweet smile on her face. "The satellite report said that Vash was spotted in February. And we'll be there in no time! I bet you're excited to see him again!"

Meryl immediately blushed, turning away from her junior co worker, and hiding her bashfulness behind a scowl. "What are you talking about, Milly? Of course I'm not excited to see him! Every time we find him, something bad happens! We really should try to get the company to send us off on some other lead."

"Now, I know you don't mean that!" Milly interjected, holding up a finger as if she was scolding her friend. "You'd be miserable if you weren't on this lead! You would miss Vash!"

"I would not!" Meryl snapped back defensively. "If I don't see him for a thousand years, it'll still be too soon!"

"Then why do you keep following him?" Milly smiled again.

"Because...because that's the job! I'm only doing my job!"

"But Meryl, I saw how concerned you looked when Vash was attacked by that weird Gale guy with the big gun. You were worried about him."

"It's perfectly normal to be worried over the safety of another human being, even if it was just some random stranger," Meryl shot back, tightening her grip on the reins of her thomas. "That's all it was."

They lapsed into silence for quite some time; Meryl glared off into the distance, and Milly watched her quietly, as was her habit.

But as they climbed over the top of a sand hill, Meryl spotted something that made her gasp. Milly caught sight of it as well, and they both halted, staring down into the sandy clearing ahead of them.

Laying in the sand several paces away, was some monstrous form flopped over on its side. It was some sort of four-legged creature with a burly form, and golden fur. It resembled some sort of giant cat with short fur, and a large clump of shaggy brown fur enclosing its neck.

"Meryl...what is that?" Milly asked, her voice shaking in fear.

"I...I don't know, Milly," she replied hesitantly, unable to take her eyes off of the creature. It was weird and unknown, and was definitely not something they had encountered on this planet before. But...it was also...almost...handsome. Beautiful, even. Seeing it lying there motionless in the sand almost made her sad.

But before either of them could do or say anything else, a wind suddenly picked up in the clearing, kicking up the sand and forming some sort of cycling cloud around the body of the beast. They watched in shock as the form of sand swelled, expanding across the clearing, before gradually settling down, the sand falling limply. And the beast was gone.

"What...what happened?" Milly squeaked.

"Oh, geeze!" Meryl exclaimed, pounding her fist against her saddle in frustration. "We're still miles away from Vash the Stampede, and things are _already_ starting to get weird again!"

OoOoOoO

The townspeople of February were very wary, and very suspicious. The doors of all of the buildings, even the shops, were closed and locked. Some locals peered at the passing trio of strangers through cracks in their shuttered windows. The quiet was very contrast to the chaos of earlier in the town.

Martha could feel everyone's stares, and it was beginning to make the hairs in the back of her neck stand. There was something judgemental and unnerving about those looks. The Doctor was too consumed in his tracking to pay any attention, and Vash just strut through cheerily as if this was perfectly normal behaviour for a town.

"The people here are a bit...quiet," Martha observed nervously, trying to strike up a conversation to drown out the awkward silence.

"That's what happens when something new comes into town," Vash explained nonchalantly. "Happens in every town or city. First it was your weird box thing, then it was the...cow thing. Not to mention, I'm here," he shrugged.

"Why don't the townspeople like you?" She inquired, feeling as if it would be taboo to talk in anything higher than a murmur.

"Chaos kinda...follows me around. Things just happen when I'm around. I don't mean it, honestly! I'd much rather lead the quiet, uneventful life, if it were up to me. So what's your deal? What's with the box thing?"

"Oh, it's sort of our…" she looked to the Doctor for help, but he was completely oblivious to the conversation. "It's kind of like our transport."

"A magical box that fades to and from existence...where can I buy myself one?" He gave her a good-humoured grin.

"We...made it," she answered clumsily, not sure how much she should tell the near-stranger.

"I see…" it was obvious that he didn't quite buy that explanation, but he didn't question its possibility any further. "Couldn't you have made it a bit bigger? Seems kinda small for the two of you."

"We manage," Martha replied, giving a nervous smile.

"Vash," the Doctor suddenly cut in, still not taking his eyes off of the sonic screwdriver. "What's up here? Multiple trails start entwining in this part of the town."

"Well...look up," he answered simply.

They all looked up, and Martha couldn't help but gasp in awe. Ahead of them, a flattened tower of metal, like a piece of some great wall, stuck up from the sandy ground, miles above their heads. It curved over the city like the shard of a broken globe, casting a shadow on many of the buildings.

But it wasn't the metal that impressed Martha - it was the enormous structure that looked exactly like a giant light-bulb, that stuck out of the metal, looming over the town.

"What is that?" Martha asked, closing her mouth after realizing that she had been gaping.

"You don't know?" Vash asked, astonished by the question. "It's the reason that life is possible on this planet. Where the hell have you two been living!?"

"Just answer the question," the Doctor ordered, keeping his impressed gaze on the structure.

"It's a Plant. Like a power plant," he explained. "Invented by humans and transported over to this planet in the migration ships."

"So what would a cow want with a power plant?" Martha inquired dubiously.

"Was it really a cow?" The Doctor asked with a knowing look. "I've figured it out. It's metamorphic energy. That cow was a shape-shifter."

"A...a what?" Vash asked, baffled.

"I'm guessing from your confusion, that shape-shifters aren't common here," Martha said pointedly.

"I don't even know what a shape-shifter is!"

"A metamorph is a category of species that can change their physical appearance, normally at will. There are tons of metamorphic species out there."

"And you're not talking about humans or animals...are you? Sounds like you're talking about aliens," Vash continued, growing slightly more serious. Martha was taken aback by his lack of surprise.

"I was hoping for a little bit more shock from you, Porcupine," the Doctor implied, grinning slyly.

"What do they want with the Plant?" He asked, ignoring the opportunity for comedy. He was disturbed with the prospect that out-worldly creatures were meddling with the power supply.

"Let's find out!" The Doctor replied.

But before they could make it much further, the wooden door to one of the nearby stone houses unexpectedly slammed opened, nearly cracking against the wall. A tall and lanky middle-aged man dashed out of his house, running onto the path in front of the trio and raising his revolver. Martha and the Doctor recoiled in shock, raising their hands up, and the Doctor gave a disarming, if nervous grin. But Vash simply held his ground and stared at the sudden attacker, looking a bit puzzled.

"Stay back!" The man shouted, his voice shaking with fear. "And keep your hands up! I said _raise_ them!"

Around them, the townspeople began poking their heads out of the windows, and the cracks in their doors, trying to see what all of the commotion was about.

"What's the matter here?" Vash asked calmly, lifting his hands above his head. Martha was impressed by his complete unconcern - either he really was stupid, or he had enough experience to remain composed. She, herself, was terrified, having never felt particularly fond of guns.

"Just put it down. We're just passing through," the Doctor said forcefully, glaring not at the man, but at the weapon.

"You can just shut up!" The man squeaked, although he was trying his hardest to sound threatening. He kept his nervous glare on the red-coated outlaw in the group, not daring to look away, even for a split second. They say that's when he striked…

"That's no way to treat my new friend," Vash replied coolly. "But he is right, you know. You should put it down."

"N-No! You're V-Vash the Stampede, aren't you!? You're a...a fiend! A walking disaster! We...We have to get rid of you!"

In response, Vash took a casual step forward, making the quivering, blanched man take a step back, lowering his weapon slightly. When the outlaw took another step towards him, he then decided that he had to hold his ground, and lifted his revolver again.

"Stay back! Stay where you are!" He shouted in a shivering voice, finally cocking the gun. "Or I'll shoot!"

"Wasn't that the goal, anyways?" Vash asked, making a puzzled face. "So I guess it doesn't matter if I walk or not. Besides," he continued with a smirk. "If you really wanted to shoot me, you would have done it already."

This is a major bluff...Martha thought to herself worriedly. But she and the Doctor remained silent, afraid of shattering the delicate situation.

The man stuttered pitifully, trying to search for the words to say, but couldn't find any. He remained where he stood, but seemed to shrink a little more with each step the outlaw took towards him.

Finally, after several moments of nothing but the man's whimpering, Vash was standing only a nose-length away from him. The man looked up at him with wide eyes, his face void of color. He was sweating badly, and every joint in his body was shaking violently.

Martha couldn't quite figure out what made people afraid of a weird guy like Vash...but of course, that's what she had wondered about the Doctor, before she got to know him more. She was beginning to question the safety of being around the outlaw.

Vash then gave the man a big smile and reached forward, clicking a switch on the man's gun and forcing the barrel to open. The six bullets in the revolver popped up from their chambers, and Vash snatched them in his hand as they hopped into the air.

"Thanks, brother!" He then said in a cheery voice, giving the petrified man a happy look. "I really needed some of these. Just so I can protect you guys. Do you have any more?"

The man stared at him, frozen, for several long moments, before finally breaking from his trance and giving a rasping scream of horror. He dropped the revolver into the sand, then dug his hands into his pockets, pulling out a small bag of ammo and practically throwing it at Vash.

He then took to his heels and ran in a state of terror, leaping back into his house and slamming the door so hard, the wood around the handle snapped.

Vash stared at the door for a quiet moment, before turning to the Doctor and Martha, completely dropping his calm facade. He gave a melodramatic sigh of relief and placing a dramatic hand on his chest.

"That was close."

"I can see why the townspeople don't like you very much," the Doctor muttered, unimpressed. "You choose to terrorize them."

"It's not my fault that they're afraid," Vash countered, growing serious again. Instead of standing in the street to talk, he got moving again and started walking towards the plant, turning his back on the other two.

"So you use their fear to your advantage," the Doctor observed emphatically, keeping his unhappy gaze on the outlaw, rather than the road. He and Martha hesitantly began following him down the path.

"This world balances on bluffs," he explained coolly. "I didn't take advantage of his fear - I did what I had to do to get out of the situation peacefully. No one got hurt." He then pulled his large, silver handgun back out and opened the barrel, sliding the bullets into the chambers.

Martha was struck by a disturbing realization at that moment. When he didn't have the gun, he looked like Vash. But when he held the weapon, he looked like a stranger.

But of course...having known the man for a total of two hours now...she couldn't truly know which was which.

"Right," the Doctor cut in, appearing slightly more cheery. "Since you're tagging along, we need to settle the rules of the group. Rule one: Don't wander off."

"I would never wander away from such a beautiful lady!" Vash flashed them a bright grin over his shoulder. Martha turned away and couldn't figure out for the life of her why she was blushing. Despite his boisterous behaviour around her...he could be a bit charming. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, trying not to smirk.

"Rule two: No bringing pears! I hate pears!"

"What's a pear?"

"Rule three: no weapons."

That seemed to strike the air, only shocking because of its sudden seriousness. A time of silence followed, in which Vash slowly snapped the barrel of his gun shut, and slid the weapon back into its holster. When he answered, he was calm, edging on nonchalant.

"I never shoot to kill."

"I don't want to see that gun out at all," the Doctor said sternly.

Vash only gave an amused chuckle in response, irking the Timelord. Martha shifted uncomfortably as they lapsed into silence once again.

They stayed that way for a long time, feeling the twin suns beating on their backs and faces. Martha could already feel a good sweat building up, and a thirst cracking in her throat. Not for the first time, she wondered how regular people could live comfortably in an environment like this, day after day.

They had just crossed into the shadow of the colossal metal sheet when a loud, rumbling crackle erupted from ahead. Martha cupped her hands over her ears and cringed, as the Doctor snapped his attention every which way, startled.

A plume of dark smoke billowed from the giant metal shard, and the ground beneath them shook violently, before settling down after only a moment.

It had been an explosion.

Around them, they could hear a collection of gasps from the people hiding in their homes. Some woman cried out, and a kid started crying. Men chattered to themselves urgently, and the sound that captured Martha's attention the most, was the sound of guns cocking.

"The plant!" Vash shouted, aghast and pale-faced. He took off, pelting down the path, red coat tails flapping like a cape.

"C'mon!" The Doctor called out, taking Martha's hand and racing off after the perturbed outlaw.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:**

 ***Crying in a corner* I love all of you. I hope you know that. YOU'RE AMAZING!**

 **This story is unbeta'd and will have mistakes. Sorry about that! Also, I guess I should have mentioned a spoiler warning a while ago.**

 **Oh, and you guys are amazing, in case you didn't know that.**

 **Did I mention that you were amazing? Yeah, you are.**

OoOoOoO

Milly and Meryl stood perched on the sandy hill that over-looked the large, mundane town. Thankfully, the town hadn't been completely demolished yet, like Meryl had been afraid of. But of course...there was always the giant cloud of smoke rising from the power plant.

"Yeah, he's definitely there. No doubt about it!" Meryl observed ruefully. "Come on, Milly!"

"Right!" Milly nodded officially.

They both slapped their reins and held on tight as their thomases took off down the hill, kicking up sand and baying with the effort.

OoOoOoO

As they approached the plant on top speed, Martha saw that the sheet of metal wasn't actually just a bit of metal. It was an enormous structure made from dark support beams and burly wires. The 'light-bulb' power source was connected to the tip of the curved structure, like some sort of giant lamp. Beams of metal, that resembled spider legs, circled around the glass dome, holding it up with what looked like a heavy-duty tarp, like a basket.

The scene ahead of them was one of chaos; the ground under the glass plant was swarming with engineers and gun-wielding civilians. The commotion was deafening, filled with angry shouting and baffled complaints. Smoke billowed from a small crater near the side of the plant, but the power source itself appeared to be unharmed.

"Who was the idiot who decided to use a freaking rocket launcher near the Plant?!" One of the engineers shouted crossly. "This is very delicate equipment, and we haven't got the money to replace it!"

"The more important question is…" one gruff-looking townsperson spoke up gravely. "Where did the monsters go?"

"That's our queue," the Doctor grinned at Martha excitedly, before sprinting down the path to greet the crowd. She followed dutifully, not even noticing when Vash didn't follow, but instead concealed himself discreetly in the shadows. He figured that his presence would upset the people even further, and didn't want anything violent and chaotic to happen near the Plant.

Before they quite made it to the crowd, the Doctor drew Martha close, whispering near-inaudibly in her ear.

"I think our shifty metamorph friends did make their way here. And I think...they're still here. Remember, they can change into anything. Keep your eyes peeled."

"How am I supposed to recognize one?" She whispered back, not taking her eyes off of the arguing crowd.

"Look for anything slightly out of the ordinary. A metal beam that looks out of place. A grain of sand that's darker than the others. They can't get things exact."

"Oh, so I have to look through the grains of sand?" Martha asked in exasperation. Sometimes, the Doctor requested the most impossible things. "What do I do if I find one?"

But the Doctor didn't answer, and instead closed the space between him and the people. Some of them looked up faintly to view his arrival, but most of the crowd was still arguing and frantically looking around the area.

The Doctor approached a tall, portly man in an engineer suit that seemed to be the man in charge. He was arguing with a shorter, but sturdier townsperson simply dressed and wielding a rifle.

"I get that you spotted some strange creatures coming near here," he was saying tensely, obviously trying to keep control over his temper. "But that doesn't mean there were any. And you can't just come bringing all of your explosives and weapons in here! You give that dome even the smallest of cracks, and the power levels come down! With no way to fix it!"

"We were _protecting_ the plant-"

"Then don't bring such uncontrollable weapons!"

"Hello, um...'scuse me," the Doctor flashed them a big smile, cutting in. They both looked at him sharply, irked by the interruption. The Timelord took it kindly, then slipped the psychic paper out of his pocket. "I'm with the...Localized Disaster Agency. LDA for short. I guess we're with the insurance company...doesn't matter. Anyways, did someone mention monsters?"

They both stared at him quizzically, apparently unimpressed by the qualifications. But another townsperson stepped in from behind, looking a bit shaky and altogether frightened.

"Yes! They were monsters! They all looked different, but they were all enormous! And fanged! With claws! They were heading for the Plant, so we tried to cut them off."

"And some _idiot_ decided to use heavy artillery," the engineer hissed.

"And...where did these beasts go?" The Doctor then asked, growing a bit more concerned.

"We don't know," the civilian responded nervously, taking a quick glance behind his shoulder. "There was a strong wind...then they just disappeared."

 _They didn't disappear…_ the Doctor thought to himself. _They're still here…_

OoOoOoO

Martha weaved through the crowd covertly, trying her best to spot every detail. She grew more and more frustrated as she realized that everything looked perfectly fine. This was an impossible task…

At one point, an argument quickly heated into a fist fight near her, and her back collided with some of the attacker's elbows.

She grunted as the wind was knocked out of her and lost her balance, nearly falling into the sand. But a young, tanned, dark-haired man quickly caught her, straightening her up. He smiled at her, though his brows were furrowed in concern, and she couldn't help but blush.

"Uh...thank you," she stuttered quickly, brushing herself off.

"Don't mention it," he shrugged, then looked past her, where two engineers were trying to hold the fighting civilians back. He then looked back at Martha in puzzlement. "What's a lady doing here?"

"Oh, just...curious," she improvised clumsily.

"You should high-tail it out of here," he said sternly. "This is no place for a lady to be curious."

"Right, thanks, I'll remember that," she nodded, trying to contain her defiance. Her biggest pet peeve was stereotyping...but she'd have to let this one slide.

He seemed like he was about to say something, but someone from somewhere else in the crowd cut him off.

"Morgan, come back me up on this!"

"Comin'!" He shouted back, then turned and passed Martha one last smile, before disappearing back into the crowd and becoming lost from her sight.

 _Back to work…_ she thought ruefully.

OoOoOoO

Vash watched the mass of people milling under the Plant from a distance. A familiar feeling was buzzing through his nerves, making the hairs on the back of his neck rise. It seemed like none of the humans had gotten hurt, so he didn't have to worry about them. The real concern was that a Plant had been threatened.

And something was telling him that Martha and the Doctor were a part of it…

He knew from the moment he had met them that something was definitely off about them. They had come out of a box that had literally just appeared out of nowhere. He'd never heard their accents before, and their clothing was very strange.

Not only their physical appearance...but the knowledge they shared between them was off. Martha seemed to be innocent, so far, but the Doctor had so many questions, and had started talking about shape-shifting monsters not from their world. But the thing that confused Vash the most, was they hadn't known about the Plants.

How could they not have known? The Plants allow all things to live in this terrible climate - everything living has seen them, and knows about them.

He was suspicious of them, and that's why he had chosen to come with them.

OoOoOoO

Martha continued to slip through the arguments - which seemed to be slightly settling down now. She sighed heavily, still unable to see through the impossibility of the task. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary! Everything looked perfectly fine.

She felt the heat rising in her, not from the suns, but from the frustration. There was no way she would be able to spot an alien in this crowd.

 _No, wait…_ she stopped herself, both physically and mentally. This wasn't going to work - she certainly wouldn't be able to spot anything in this state. She closed her eyes and drew in a slow breath, then exhaled softly, feeling herself cool down. She repeated this for several moments, before feeling like she had sufficiently calmed down.

Martha then opened her eyes and took a step back so she could see a large chunk of the crowd. Searching for details hadn't worked...so maybe looking at the overall picture would reveal something.

And it did, almost immediately - something was terribly off.

A man on one side of the crowd looked like the twin of another man. The back of an engineer's head looked an awful lot like the back of someone else head. And when she looked closer...she could see two Morgans.

There were doubles.

 _I found you!_

OoOoOoO

Vash paced the edges of the crowd, discretely, sensing an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. Something was definitely off about these people, but he couldn't tell what it was.

He was just about to venture closer, when he saw a flicker of movement in the edge of his vision. He snapped his head that way, spotting a young blonde woman slipping away from the crowd, moving for the stairs that led into the maintenance shafts of the Plant.

"Hello, there…" he muttered to himself. "What are you up to?"

Unwilling to leave her alone with the Plant, Vash took to his heels, circling around the group of people. He then tried to remain out of sight as he followed the woman up the metal stairs. The stairs spiraled upwards and were lined by thick support beams.

It was an unusual set up, he thought to himself. Normally, the operation facilities for the plants would be enclosed buildings near the base of the mighty dome. But this one was very open, enclosed by nothing but the metal pillars stretching into the horizon, and the height of the structure tried to reach the tip of the dome, rather than staying on the ground. But then again, each city had their own way of managing their power plants - this one was just unique.

He climbed for quite some time, reaching a daunting height, before finally finding her standing in front of a wall of controls, set on a railed metal balcony. The controls displayed a long range of buttons, dials, and strange readings. He couldn't understand any of it, but he normally didn't need to.

The woman was pacing in front of the control panels, as if trying to familiarize herself with its setup. It seemed pretty harmless, but when she began reaching for the controls, Vash took a step closer and cut her off.

"'Scuse me, ma'am," he said cheerily, painting on an innocent grin. "But that's a lot of delicate equipment. Don't you think we should leave that alone?"

"Leave, immediately," she commanded harshly, not even offering him a backwards glance.

"Sorry, I don't do requests," he shrugged.

"Leave, immediately!" She repeated, clearly growing irked.

"I can't do that until I know what you're doing here," he responded, growing slightly more stern.

The woman turned quickly and faced him, scowling. She was a pale woman, with long blonde hair braided behind her, and a sharply cut face. Her beauty would have normally attracted Vash...but the cocked revolver in her hand held most of his attention.

"You will leave," she repeated, fingering the trigger threateningly.

"Woah, uh...can't we talk this out?" Vash grinned nervously, holding his hands up above his head and taking a step back.

"Leave!"

"I can't do that, yet!"

"Then you will die."

OoOoOoO

Martha pushed her way through the crowd, slipping between the men and women, trying to reach her companion.

"Doctor!" She called to him when she spotted him, catching his attention.

Once she reached him, she pulled him aside slightly, then stood on her toes, speaking lowly in his ear.

"I found them. Look closely...there are doubles."

The Doctor looked up, carefully surveying the crowd for a moment, before nodding to Martha, admiration glinting in his eyes. She loved it when his eyes did that.

"Nice catch."

"So what do we do now?" She asked in a hushed tone.

"We don't even know what they want, yet," the Doctor whispered back. "They could be here on peaceful terms."

But he was quickly cut off by cruel irony. The sound of a bullet firing from nearby rang in the air. Like the snap of a finger, everyone had their guns raised and cocked immediately, pointing them at one another and staring each other down.

Some of the crowd, especially the women, were truly freaked out by having to stare down the barrel of the guns. But others were enraged by this sudden exchange.

"Who the hell do you think you're pointing that at?!" One man shouted.

"Where did the gunshot come from?" Another man asked nervously.

"I spoke too soon..." The Doctor muttered, growing serious and raising his hands above his head. Martha followed suite, swallowing nervously.

There were guns pointing at them as well.

OoOoOoO

The strange woman had pulled the trigger, sending a bullet spinning towards Vash. His first reaction was to throw his hands over his face, and it worked.

The bullet ricocheted off of his prosthetic left arm, but the force knocked him to the ground, the breath escaping from his lungs.

"Hey! Don't fire that thing so close to the Plant!" He shouted at her forcefully, but was met by another pull of the trigger. He rolled out of the way quickly, just as the bullet collided with the metal floor, making a hole in the spot where his head had just been.

OoOoOoO

"Another gunshot!" Someone shouted. "Where is it coming from?!"

"It's none of us, here. So you can calm down and out your guns away!" The Doctor countered, glaring at the nervous-looking gunman in front of him and Martha.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" He responded shakily, fingering the trigger. "And just who the hell are you two, anyways? You came out of nowhere."

"Like I said before, I'm the Doctor, with the Local Disaster Agency. And this is my partner, Martha Jones."

Martha nodded frantically, agreeing, unable to take her eyes off of the gun.

"I have my ID, if you would let me…" the Doctor requested, giving the man a softer look. Eventually, he nodded his hesitant approval, and the Doctor slowly reached down into his pocket. Everyone watching cringed, expecting another gun to come out, but out came the psychic paper instead. He held it out to everyone, and it seemed to help calm the tension a bit.

"Alright Mr. Doctor…" the man in front of them grunted hesitantly, lowering his weapon. "One false move, and I blow your brains out. Got that?"

"Don't have to tell me twice!"

That's when another bullet fired off, making everyone jump. Then there was another, and another - soon, a whole series of bullets. The crowd looked around frantically, and a woman finally pointed up into the spiderweb of support beams above them.

"It's coming from up there!"

"I'm on it!" Said the man that Martha recognized as Morgan. He rounded up a small posse of armed men, and darted for the stairwell, leaving everyone else in the dust, chattering amongst themselves in a nervous way.

"What now?" Martha asked the Doctor, hoping he'd actually have an answer this time.

"Welllll…..no clue," he admitted, making his companion sigh in exasperation. He just shrugged at her sheepishly. "I'm still trying to identify the shapeshifters."

"Okay…another question, then," she then said, taking a quick glance around. "Where did Vash go?"

"Oh…"

OoOoOoO

Vash had so far managed to dodge the bullets, taking pride in his agility, but he hadn't liked how close the projectiles were getting to the power Plant. This woman wasn't being careful at all, firing off without care as to where the bullets might puncture.

"I was really hoping you'd play nice," Vash took the chance to say, as the mysterious woman reloaded her revolver. "And I'd normally let this go on for a bit longer, but I'm afraid, for the sake of the Plant, that I'm going to have to end it here."

That being said, he wrapped his fingers around the handle of his own gun, prepared to pull it out of its holster.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** ** _I really am very sorry for the wait. *Sigh*_**

 ** _I want to thank you all again for sticking with it, and for all of your wonderful reviews! I treasure all of them. :) I hope you continue to enjoy this story!_**

OoOoOoO

"I was really hoping you'd play nice," Vash took the chance to say, as the mysterious woman reloaded her revolver. "And I'd normally let this go on for a bit longer, but I'm afraid, for the sake of the Plant, that I'm going to have to end it here."

That being said, he wrapped his fingers around the handle of his own gun, prepared to pull it out of its holster.

OoOoOoO

"I've got it!" The Doctor suddenly shouted, making Martha jump and cup a hand over her ear. "I know what they are."

"Are you sure?" Martha asked dubiously, massaging the soft spot over her ear ruefully.

"What do you mean, am I sure?" He scoffed, giving her a hurt look.

"Well...you've been wrong before. And it cost us," she reminded him.

"That was one time!"

"Three."

"Okay...it was three times!"

"Who are they, Doctor?"

"They're Eintaks. That specific type of energy is only found on Mota Breyta," he explained in a hushed tone.

But as soon as he had uttered the word, the crowd reacted astonishingly. Half of the heads in the group - all the double of someone else - snapped up and glared daggers at the Doctor. The rest of the people were startled, some jumping and crying out, others taking a step back. Martha shrank slightly, feeling unnerved under those glares.

"I...take it I'm right?" The Doctor asked, giving a disarming, if nervous, smile.

As he spoke, a powerful wind appeared out of nowhere, kicking of the sand and sending it in a spiral. Everyone gasped and cried out, covering their eyes and faces and clinging to each other, as if afraid of flying away.

The wind was torrential, nearly knocking Martha off of her feet, and the sand was blinding. When she realized that she was inhaling it, she coughed and covered her mouth, burying her face into the Doctor's chest. He held her close, more to protect her from the sand, rather than for the sake of holding her close.

If only…

But as quickly as it came, the wind died down and the sand fell like rocks, clearing the air again. Everyone now wore a layer of orange, and some were coughing violently.

All of the glaring faces had disappeared, taking half the crowd, but Martha could hear a loud buzzing noise all around them, and could see little black dots darting past her face.

"Flies," the Doctor explained. "They morphed into flies."

OoOoOoO

Before Vash had a chance to pull his gun out, a torrential wind seemed to come out of nowhere, making his coat tails flap like mad and threatening to pull him off of his feet. He dove forwards, wrapping his arms around the railing and clung on for dear life, believing the threat. If he was thrown off the balcony, it was a long way to the bottom.

But it didn't take long for the wind to settle down, and as soon as he was comfortably back on his feet, he turned back towards the woman.

But she was gone.

"Geeze...she's a freaking magician!" he exclaimed to himself. "What was that?"

Before he could venture further to check it out, he heard the sound of a dozen guns cocking behind him, and had the sudden feeling that he was in a lot of people's sights.

"Vash the Stampede, turn around slowly with your hands above your head!"

This just wasn't his day…

OoOoOoO

"Doctor, what's going on?" Martha asked, completely baffled. "What were they doing here?"

"Well...they were obviously going for a main power source...but I'm still working out the why. But I do know one thing!"

"What's that?" She asked hopefully.

"I found your boyfriend!"

Confused, she looked in the direction he was gazing, and the sight made her shoulders slump. The group of gunmen who had gone up to investigate the gunshots were now climbing down, dragging Vash behind them, who seemed to be obeying them dutifully - he wasn't really putting up much of a fight.

As the group made their way to the rest of the crowd, Martha looked back up at the Doctor desperately.

"I don't know who's side to be on."

"Let's just see what happens," he whispered back.

The crowd spread out until they made a small ring around Vash and the man handling him: Morgan. Martha and the Doctor shoved their way further into the crowd so they could see more clearly.

Vash looked calm, almost flippantly nonchalant. He was looking around at the people, giving off big grins and winks to the ladies, who simply tipped their chins up at him and scowled.

"We found Vash the Stampede standing over the controls of the Plant!" one of the men accused fiercely.

"If we hadn't gotten up there in time, there's no telling what he might have done!" Morgan added, giving Vash's back a hard shove. He stumbled for a moment, but quickly corrected himself, apparently unconcerned.

"I say we take care of the filth, now!" A woman suggested, glaring up at the outlaw. He returned her gaze calmly.

"No talking out, fellas?" He asked cheekily.

"Not a chance, you bastard!" Morgan shouted, throwing the butt end of his revolver against Vash's shoulder blade. He cried out and dropped to his knees, keeping his head low and his gaze down.

Martha cringed, making it her plan to intervene, but the Doctor grabbed her arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, telling her to stay put. She glared at him, but obeyed dutifully - sometimes, he actually knew what he was doing.

"Now, you're really gonna pay for what you did," Morgan threatened quietly, circling around to Vash's front. "And I dunno what the hell you were doing with the controls, but that's not what I'm concerned about!" He gave an almighty kick to his stomach, knocking the outlaw onto his back with a cry of pain.

Martha noticed that he didn't fight back at all, not even trying to stand back up. He took all of this abuse as if it were just a futile, daily habit.

"Make peace with whatever gods you believe in," Morgan then said with a growl, raising his revolver and cocking it with a fiery glare. "Repent and die."

"I have a question, though!" The Doctor suddenly announced, raising his hand like a schoolchild. Morgan hesitated, offering him a glance.

"What do you want, Pinstripe?" A rather shady-looking man asked.

"Ooh, that's a new nickname!" The Doctor grinned, and the others gave him impatient glares. "Anyways...If he was up there alone...then why was he firing a gun? Or was someone else involved?"

"Are you saying he has an accomplice?" Morgan asked nervously.

"No! Not at all! I'm just questioning his reasons. Why was he up there, anyways?"

"To shut off the power supply and kill us all!" One woman accused. "That's probably how he started when he massacred July!"

"Where's your evidence?" The Doctor asked forcefully. "Cause if you're gonna kill a man, you need solid evidence."

"What else could he have been doing?" Morgan asked impatiently. "He's the freaking Humanoid Typhoon!"

"Why don't you ask him what he was doing?" The Timelord asked pointedly. "He might have another explanation."

"He'd just lie!"

"I'd like a say in this!" Vash interjected, sitting up abruptly and cutting off Martha's earlier observation - it would seem that he had a sudden change in mood.

"Shut up!" Morgan shouted, elbowing him in the face. He fell on his back again, hitting his head against the ground with a thud.

"Ow!" He announced and rubbed the back of his head, bleeding from his nose. "Ow…"

"Just amuse us. Ask him!" The Doctor forced.

Morgan sneered at the Doctor, but all of that hatred and bravado seemed to be masking an inner anxiety - he seemed like he really wanted to kill Vash, but that wasn't it...was it?

Martha couldn't help but think that he didn't want to kill anyone at all. He just needed a good excuse not to.

The crowd watched him expectantly as he gazed around, then turned his attention towards the motionless outlaw on the ground.

"Stand up," he commanded harshly.

"Yessir!" Immediately, Vash obliged, perking up instantly and hopping to his feet. He towered over the young man opposite him, and gazed down at him softly. Morgan seemed unnerved and baffled by the outlaw's gentle gaze, but didn't comment on it.

"What were you doing up there?"

"I was protecting the Plant," he answered sincerely, then passed his gaze to the surrounding crowd. "I recognize that it's an important resource for this town, and one of those strange people were up there messing with the controls."

"Bullshit!" A random man screamed, his finger twitching against the side of his gun.

"Just kill him, Morgan!" Another shouted. It was a huge Deja Vu for Vash...this had already happened earlier. But he didn't think that there would be a random blue box to save him this time.

"I-I...I will!" He announced, winning a cheer from the crowd.

"Doctor…" Martha said nervously.

"If you shoot him, you'll be just as bad as him!" The Doctor shouted, even though he really had no idea what he was talking about. Was Vash bad?

"This man killed my parents! And so many others like them!" Morgan accused sharply, and Martha could see Vash cringe slightly, flicking his eyes towards the ground.

Was it...true?

"I'm going to end him...I'm going to save the rest of us! And I'm going to bring justice!" He won another loud cheer from the audience, and Martha looked on in horror. She gazed up at the Doctor, but he was just watching as well, lips parted as if he was going to say something, but nothing came out. Wasn't he going to do something about this!?

"Alright, you son of a bitch…" Morgan continued, and Martha couldn't help but notice a small quiver in his voice. He raised his revolver, aiming at Vash's head at point blank - it would be a lethal shot. "Look at me...I said _look at me, dammit!_ "

Vash raised his head, showing off an expressionless mask. Seemingly out of nowhere, he retrieved a pair of circular, orange sunglasses, flicking them open and placing the bridge on his nose.

OoOoOoO

In the reflection of the glasses, Morgan could see himself standing there with the gun in his hands, and he didn't like what he saw. Sweat dripped down his face and moistened his hands, making the grip of the revolver a bit slippery. His eyes were dark, and his face was pale from clenching his teeth. This wasn't what he normally looked like.

When had he resorted to this?

But it didn't matter now...what mattered was killing this bastard and finally being able to live in peace, having quenched the hungry flames of revenge. The crowd was waiting...the outlaw was there...

But just...just a few more moments of innocence...just stall.

OoOoOoO

"Any last words?" Morgan asked, keeping true to his constructed layer of bravado.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your parents," Vash replied calmly. "I'm sure they were good people."

"N-No...no! I don't want to hear it!" He shook his head and clenched his eyes shut, readjusting the grip on his gun. "I don't want I hear that from you! It's not right."

"What are you waiting for?" A man shouted impatiently. "Just shoot the mutt!"

"Right...right! I will!" He looked back up, but was unable to meet Vash's eyes - not that he could see them anyways through the orange lenses. Vash remained calm, motionless, and altogether unconcerned at staring down the barrel of the gun. He didn't even flinch as Morgan began to squeeze the trigger...

"Die!"

Martha gasped and looked away when the sound of a gunshot blasted around them. She couldn't bear to look at the carnage, and the smell of gunsmoke was making her nauseous.

Had someone really been killed?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

 **I cannot express how sorry I am about this delay. I tried to make the chapter extra long for your troubles!**

 **I'm not exactly happy with how it came out, but I hope it brightens your day!**

 **Thank you to everyone who has left kind words, followed/faved, or even just took the time to read a bit of it. You're all so wonderful!**

OoOoOoO

"Die!"

Martha gasped and looked away when the sound of a gunshot blasted around them. She couldn't bear to look at the carnage, and the smell of gunsmoke was making her nauseous.

Had someone really been killed?

OoOoOoO

Vash clenched his eyes shut, and admitted to a wince as the gunshot rang through the air. He was fully expecting either the pain or the end...but the bullet never hit its mark. Morgan had missed.

Or...could it be…?

He snapped his eyes open and looked out past the orange lenses, to discover Morgan's gun still cocked. He never pulled the trigger. Then who…?

"A'right! That's enough!"

OoOoOoO

Martha managed to look up when she heard the authoritative, booming voice attack them from the rise ahead of the crowd. Everyone was startled, but she also heard a collection of distraught moans from the people, as if whoever it was had been something annoying that they had expected.

When she looked up at the hill, she spotted a tall, burly man standing there with his silver revolver raised. He was bald, but proudly held a thick, greying mustache above his thin lips. He was dressed like your classic Western civilian, but the piece that shined out to Martha the most, was the rusted sheriff's badge hastily pinned to his coat. This was the sheriff of February.

"'Bout time you got here, Bruce!" The head of the engineers shouted crossly.

"No, you gotta stay out of this one!" Another man shouted above him, stepping forward threateningly. "We're not done here!"

"I'm not about to let people start shootin' each other. Not in my town," the sheriff - apparently called Bruce - started sternly, making his way towards the crowd. "Now I dunno what kinda fuss happened here, but no one's killin' anyone."

"Useless sheriff!" The same man accused. "You weren't here when we needed you, and now you're just here to scrape off the scraps and lord it over us!"

"Cut the crap, Kevin!"

"You don't understand, Sheriff," Morgan started with a timid growl. "This man is Vash the Stampede!"

That seemed to strike Bruce square in the face. His expression changed from stern to steely and he balled his fifts, tightening the grip on his revolver. "Is that so?"

"That's right! That's why...that's why we need to bring justice!"

"Oh! The Sheriff!" The Doctor suddenly cut in, making Martha jump with a start. "The man in charge! Yes! You're a reasonable fellow, right? Well...I think we should let this man -"

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Bruce snapped, turning his head in their direction, but he always kept Vash in the corner of his eye. The outlaw just held his hands up, a puzzled look on his face. "I've never seen you two here before, and I don't like that."

"Oh! I'm Dr. Brown," he flashed a disarming smile.

"And I'm Martha McFly," Martha introduced herself, for her own amusement. She won a delighted, boyish look from the Doctor, and felt rather pleased with herself.

"And we're with the LDA!" The Doctor finished cheerily.

"No such thing," Bruce immediately replied, winning a startled look from the Timelord, and dark murmurings from the disgruntled crowd.

"Okay...okay, fine. You caught me! But...the point still stands! You can't just kill him!"

"I never said I was gonna let him die," Bruce continued, growing monotonous.

"But, Bruce - !" Morgan tried to cut in.

"No one ever had the right to take the life of another," he responded, very plainly.

"But he's taken hundreds of lives!" The man named Kevin argued, and shouting from the crowd told them that the people agreed.

" _So we ain't gonna drop down to his level_!" Bruce shouted above them all, creating an inevitable hush. Even if they didn't agree with him, they always listened.

Once everyone was silent and expectantly watching, the sheriff of February gave a curt nod, then briskly made his way towards Vash, who was just wearing a clueless look.

"What do we do with people we don't like?" Bruce then asked the people. When no one answered, he finished his own question, albeit a bit darkly. "We kick them out of town. And that'll have to be good enough."

"You're kidding me…" Kevin growled, but didn't fight back. The crowd groaned and bit back bitter responses, but no one dared go against his order any longer.

In the blink of an eye, Vash had brightened up, shining off a big, boyish grin and clasping his hands together in front of him.

"Really!? You mean it?! Oh! Thank you, Sheriff! Thank you for your most humane act in the face of this dire situation!"

"I don't want your thanks!" Bruce snapped. "I want you to get the hell out of my town."

"Yes sir, Mr. Sheriff, sir!" Vash snapped a comical solute. But he quickly dropped his hand, his gaze drifting back towards the Plant, stricken by a thought. "But you need to make sure that your Plant is protected from those weird people. I'd happy to be its guard! Free of charge! No cost-"

"We've got it covered. Now, go!" Bruce shouted, causing the outlaw to snap his jaw shut. "And if I see you here, again, I can't promise that you won't leave without some hot lead in your chest."

Vash looked at him for a moment, before turning his gaze to the crowd, and eventually looking out past the people. He nodded, adjusted the sunglasses on his nose, then tilted his chin up. He then walked, acting nonchalant as the crowd parted before him to let him through, receiving sneers and glares on his way out.

Everyone watched in silence as he wound through the streets of the town, eventually disappearing from their views. Martha gave a sigh of relief, glad that he seemed to make it out without any further trouble.

But her relief was quickly cut short when she felt the presence of a large being towering over her. Slowly, nervously, she looked up, and her gaze was met by the suspicious glare of Bruce. The Doctor was already grinning at him offering a polite wave.

"Now, I don't know who you two are, exactly. But I know that you were trying to pal with that fellow who just left. I don't like strangers - especially strangers who lie to me. So you and your 'LDA' partner can get out of my town, too, and go join your friend." Everything was spoken in such a quiet, ominous growl, Martha could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rising like threatened haunches.

"Actually, I think we should stay here and take a look at the Plant," the Doctor replied firmly, waving the threat off.

"They were trying to defend the Humanoid Typhoon," Kevin spoke up accusingly, glaring at them with a sneer. "For all we know, they could be accomplices!"

"I think we'd all be safer if they just left," Morgan agreed nervously, although trying to appear authoritative.

"You heard em'," Bruce growled. "Out."

When the Doctor and Martha didn't move, the sheriff raised the snout of his revolver towards them, and Martha clenched her fingers around the Doctor's wrist in panic. He looked down at her stoically and nodded.

"We'll be leaving now."

OoOoOoO

"That's it?" Martha asked once they had left the aggressive crowd behind, now traversing the streets of the town. "We're just gonna leave? Back in the TARDIS, and pop?"

"Of course not!" The Doctor exclaimed, as if offended by the prospect. "You know me better than that!" She shouldn't have expected any different - there was unworldly trouble afoot, and the Doctor lived for unworldly trouble.

"So...if we're being kicked out of the town, then where are we gonna go?"

"Easiest question all day! We're going to join our Prickly Porcupine friend, of course!"

"But...isn't he going out into the desert?"

"Yup!" He responded with a shrug, and excited glint in his eyes. "So that's where we're going."

"Doctor, we don't have any water or anything!"

"We'll do what Prickles does, because he obviously knows how to survive in a climate like this."

"This...is a sudden and spontaneous decision…" Martha observed, piecing it all together. "Which means there's something else on your mind."

"You know me too well, Martha Jones," he nodded, growing slightly more serious. He stared off into the endless expanse of sand that was fast approaching. In the distance, they could see a red figure whom they assumed to be their guide.

"Can you let me into your mind?" Martha asked in exasperation. "Not literally, but...I kinda like to know what you're thinking sometimes, so I can follow along."

"Something must have gone terribly wrong. You remember when we went to New Earth?"

"Biggest traffic jam in the Universe. Yes, I remember," she recalled with some distaste.

"So you can easily see that this isn't right…"

"What else?" Martha pressed, knowing that this couldn't possibly be his only worry.

" _He's_ not right," the Doctor added firmly, pointing at the red figure in the distance. "And I think that he might have something to do with all of this."

OoOoOoO

"What do you mean, 'he's gone'?" Meryl asked, aghast as she stared up at the burly sheriff across the wooden desk.

"We drove him out of town a while ago," he answered languidly, too busy polishing his revolver to look at them; even sitting down, he was still taller than the young woman. "Him and his friends."

"Friends?" Milly asked curiously.

"Well...do you know where he went?" Meryl pressed desperately, frustrated that, like always, the infamous outlaw was one step ahead of them.

"Wasn't my problem," Bruce shrugged, looking at his warped reflection in the crafted metal.

"Right…" Meryl sighed and gave a weak nod. "Thanks for your help, Sheriff. We'll just show ourselves out." She turned to the door and quickly made her way outside, forcing Milly to come scrambling after her.

Once they had stepped back out into the sun and had closed the door behind them, Meryl let her shoulders droop dramatically, and gave Milly a deflated - and somewhat irritated - look.

"At this rate, we'll never be able to catch up to him. We don't even know which way he went!"

"It's okay, Meryl," her companion gave her an innocent smile and clasped her hands together. "Just follow your heart!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" She growled defensively.

"Well...you _do_ love him...don't you?"

"OF COURSE NOT! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK THAT!? HE'S THE LAST MAN I'D CHOOSE TO LOVE!"

"Sorry, Meryl…" Milly squeaked, looking down.

"Whatever," she sighed, catching her breath and cooling her temper to the best of her ability. "Let's just keep moving…"

OoOoOoO

 _Those things were strange…_ Vash thought to himself, drifting off into his mind's eye as he paced across the sea of sand. _What is Knives up to now? I'll have to go back…_

"Oi! Slow down a bit!"

He was snapped from his thoughts when the strange, cheery voice cut into his senses. He stopped and turned on his heels, slicing marks into the sand that would eventually be shifted by the coming wind.

Vash waited patiently, watching as the weird Doctor guy and his dark-skinned beauty climbed the shifting sand hill below him. It was clear that the two were not accustomed to sand-walking, making it up the hill in double the time anyone else would.

By the time they reached him, they were both panting and sweating, cheeks brightened by the heat. He regarded them with bemusement.

"Look who's tagging along with who, now! Did you get kicked out, too?"

"We were leaving anyways," the Doctor grinned, straightening up after he had caught his breath.

"Where will you go now?" Vash asked, adjusting the large bag on his shoulder. He always made sure to drop off his belongings on the edge of town, so he could easily pick it up if...no, _when_ he was kicked out.

"We were hoping to stick with you," Martha admitted, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

OoOoOoO

The stars were vibrant during the darkest twixt of night. The Doctor and Vash spoke idly over the soft crackling of the dying fire as Martha slept a few feet away.

Both of the men had offered her their coats for sleeping - Vash for the sake of "love", and the Doctor for the sake of being a gentleman. After a quick and childish fight, Martha had rolled her eyes and taken them both, just to shut them up.

The Doctor now had the chance to observe the outlaw's inner apparel - even for a future version of Earth, it was strange. He was clad head to foot in thick, skin-tight battle leather. It was buckled together and seemed to attach to everything, gloves and leg-length boots included. He could only see a few slithers of pale skin peeking from his shoulders and chest.

His battle leather simply didn't match his erratic and friendly personality.

But the Doctor wouldn't be able to forget the look in Vash's eyes when he'd thought that the Plant was being threatened…

The Doctor didn't like it when he couldn't figure someone out.

Vash looked up just then and met the Timelord's gaze, offering a friendly smile. He smiled back but didn't quite look away, his eyes lingering on the silver handgun resting in the holster on Vash's hip.

"What kind of gun is that?"

"What, this old thing?" He asked in surprise, taking it out and waving it around like it was nothing. "It's a .75 Colt. Kinda rubbish, actually."

"The famous outlaw uses a rubbish old gun? I find that hard to believe." He was playing with him now, prying for information.

"I don't really use it that much. The sight of blood makes me a bit sick!"

"Then why carry it around?" He quirked a brow.

"It's more threatening than anything."

"Big bad outlaw who never uses his gun and doesn't actually mean to do any harm...I can't figure out why they're afraid of you!"

"And I can't figure out why _you're_ not."

"Why should I be?"

"I Can't remember," Vash shrugged.

"That seems awfully convenient."

"The mind is a strange thing!"

The Doctor wasn't that easily convinced.

OoOoOoO

 **So...wow, this is embarrassing. I mistakenly thought that I could juggle full time college with full time work, and managing stories. This definitely isn't working out, since writing has since plummeted to the bottom of my priority list. My life is incredibly hectic. That being said, I'm going to have to put this story on hold. I'm not giving up on it! I just...can't manage it right now.**

 **I'll probably be popping random one-shots up here and there if time allows, but I can't handle a story.**

 **I'm really, really sorry about this, and I really appreciate all of the kind words and support! You're all so very wonderful!**

 **With love and regret,**

 **HyperionSpeck**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:**

 **Woah, I'm alive! How about that? Also, here's a very short chapter for you! Thank you to all of those who have followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story. In fact, thank you to everyone who has even taken the time to read this story, even though its updates are lacking.**

"You _fled_?"

"I had no choice, Nest Mother," Karmak stuttered, weaving her webbed fingers together as her reptilian tail tucked between her legs. She withered under her Nest Mother's venomous scowl.

"You had the Plant within your grasp, and you simply ran away?"

"T-There was a human there. He knew who we were. He discovered us!"

"So what if a mere human finds you?" The Nest Mother snarled. Spit fell from her fangs, and onto the stone floor in front of Karmak. The acidity began to eat away at the stone. Karmak couldn't help but shiver and take a step back.

"What was I supposed to do?"

" _KILL THEM!"_ The Nest Mother shrieked, her voice echoing through the tunnel halls. Loose chips of rock crumbled from the ceiling, and Karmak could swear that the very ground had shaken. Karmak whimpered, leaning back on her haunches and hiding her face in her webbed hands. The other Eintaks in the throne hall were unaroused, well accustomed to their Nest Mother's temper.

"B-B-But you d-don't understand!" Karmak argued, albeit timidly. She was trembling from head to talon, and she clenched her jaws as she talked to keep her fangs from chattering. "Humans are already endangered on Gunsmoke. We shouldn't just -"

"So you would choose their lives over the lives of your own family?" The Nest Mother's tone turned icy - a stark difference from the uproarious tone she had possessed mere moments ago.

"N-No, never!," Karmak gasped, her heart freezing. "I would n-never!" The Nest Mother settled back down on her stone throne, her massive form making the very rocks lean back.

"You managed to locate the power source, but did little more than that," the Nest Mother began, her voice booming, yet calmer, like the rumbling of thunder. "You failed to obtain the power source, you failed to lead your underlings to victory, and you chose to protect the lives of the humans over ours. Such negligence cannot go without punishment."

"M-My most m-merciful matriarch," Karmak squeaked, looking up in horror. Her eyes were met with the sight of her mother's jagged fangs. "Surely you could...f-find it in your large heart to allow m-me to make it up to you, s-somehow! Perhaps there is some...task I could-"

" _Silence!"_

Karmak snapped her jaws shut, feeling her heart dropping.

"You will be taken into custody until I have spoken with the council about your fate. Regardless, you have been stripped of your privileges as an Eintak officer, and your underlings will be given to a more responsible command."

"Yes...Mother Dearest."

OoOoOoO

"So is this it, then?" Martha asked, shielding her eyes from the twin suns with a hand. In the distance, she could only see sandy hills, with lines distorted by heat waves. "We just keep walking? Are we going to a different town?"

"Different town? No way!" Vash shot back with a double-take as if offended. "We're letting the locals cool off for a bit, then we're going right back in. I'm certain that those weird people will be back to threaten the Plant."

"Okay," Martha nodded, furrowing her brows in thought. "New question. What exactly is a Plant? Is it like a power plant?"

"That's right, my clever angel!" Vash gushed, causing Martha to roll her eyes. "But it's not just for energy. It generates food and water as well. Without the Plant, the town could fall into ruin."

"That's incredible!" The Doctor, who had been deep in thought, chose this moment to speak up. "A power plant that generates food and water… what kind of technology is that? Who made the plants?"

Vash snapped his mouth shut, for once, stricken silent. Martha thought she could see a flash of concern in his eyes before he quickly took on a confused persona. "I'm not really sure what you're talking about," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "The Plants have been around since before I was born, so I couldn't really tell you."

The Doctor must have caught the same look that Martha had, because he clearly didn't look impressed.


End file.
